Load anticipator for balers



July 31, 1951 s. J-. s'rEvENsoN ETAL 2,562,585

LOAD ANTICIPATOR FQR BALERS Filed July 12,' 1947 5 sheets-sheet 1 @y Q wz July 3l, 1951 s. J. srEvENsoN ETAL 2,562,585

' LOAD ANTICIPATOR FOR BALERS Filed* July 1 2, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 July 31, 1951 s. J. srEvENsoN lin-AL 2,562,585

LOAD ANTICIPATOR FoR BALERS Filed July 12, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 PQM@ July 31, 1951 s. .L sTEvENsoN vl-:fr Ap. 2,562,585

LOAD ANTICIPATOR FOR BALERS Filed July l2, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 july 31, 1951 s. J. sTEvENsoN ET Al. 2,562,585

LOAD ANTICIPATOR FOR BALERS Filed July 12, 1947 5 sheets-sheet 5 Patented July 31, 1951 LOAD ANTICIPATOR FOR BALERS Samuel J. Stevenson and Theodore H. Klusman, Rio `Vista, and Herman S. Fisher, Walnut Grove, Calif., assignors to International Harvester Company, a corporation of New Jersey Application July 12, 1947, Serial No. 760,556

6 Claims.

This invention relates to a load anticipator for balers and has for one of its principal objects the provision of means for supplying additional power to the baler during that period of the baling cycle which requires greatest eiiortand which when, not compensated for, tends to cause drag on the engine.

An important object of this invention is to provide means associated with an engine operated baler which automatically steps up engine operation during a predetermined portion of the compression stroke of the bale forming plunger.

Another important object of this invention is the provision of means for automatically providing auxiliary engine acceleration at certain periods of operation when the engine is under load, but to eliminate the function of this automatic operating means when the engine is merely idling.

Another important object of this invention is the provision of means for automatically actuating the throttle in the carburetor of an engine associated with a hay baler and effecting a boost in engine power upon the compression or working stroke of a bale forming plunger.

Balers, and particularly pick-up balers, are in general use throughout the country for the baling of all types of material. These materials may and do vary between very wet and dense hay having a high coeflicient of friction to a very dry light hay or straw which has but a minimum coeiiicient of friction. Balers are designed for universal use regardless of the condition of the material being baled. However, it is only' engineering sense not to employ an unduly large engine when that engine would be called upon to deliver its maximum output during a minute percentage of the full time of baler operation. As a result engines are specified to accomplish all ordinary baling without the slightest strain and to accomplish all baling with but little 'strain on the engine.

The baling operation includes the feeding of material tc be baled to the bale forming chamber and thereupon compressing the material within the chamber by a plunger or the like. Ordinarily a reciprocating plunger is employed which compresses the material to ber baled in a bale-like aggregation, after which time the bale is tied and delivered from the bale forming chamber. The plunger in forming the bale makes numerous strokes to form a full-size bale. Varioustrip mechanisms are employed to notify the operator when 'the bale being formed has attained some pre-determined desired length. Movement of the bale plunger without compressing any material does not exert any undue effort on the part of the engine at any point during its full cycle of reciprocation. However, when material being baled has a high coeiiicient of friction, the plunger must work excessively hard toward the end of its compression stroke, This causes the engine to slow down and at times causes the engine to die, whereupon much work is necessary to clean out the bale chamber and' restart the engine. s

There are several possible remedies for this baler operation diiculty. One would be to provide a more powerful engine for the baler, which as previously stated would not constitute good engineering design. 'Y

A second remedy would be to operate th present engines at a higher speed so that the engine could assume the excessive load on the compression stroke without killing the engine. Should this latter method be employed, theengine would be running excessively fast and this high speed might prove injurious to the engine if it is maintained in continuous operation.

The third possibility is of course the power anticipator of this invention.

It is therefore an important object of this invention to provide means responsive'at some point during the compression stroke of the plunger to provide increased engine power and added plunger inertia for completing the compression stroke of the plunger.

Other and further important objects will become apparent from the disclosures in the following specication and accompanying drawings in which: i

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a pickfup hay baler incorporating the principles of this invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the engine and portions of the baler as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the device as shown in Figure 2. f

Figure 4 is an enlarged view of portions of the device as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 5 is an elevational diagram of operator employed in this invention.

Figure 6 is a planview of the operating mechanisms of this device.

the v:cam

as shown in Figure 6. v

Figure 8 is a sectional view taken on the line 8--8 of Figure 6.

As shown in the drawings, the reference' numeral Ill indicates generally a pick-up baler hav- Figure 7 is a front elevational view of the device ing a longitudinally extending bale forming chamber I a tractor hitch I2, a supporting wheel I3, and a pick-up structure I4 having a rotating tined cylinder I5 adapted to pick hay or Straw from a windrow and throw it upwardly and rearwardly onto a transversely extending platform I6. An auger conveyor I1 carries the hay or straw deposited on the platform to a side opening I8 in the bale forming chamber as best shown in Figure 2. An engine I9 is mounted and carried above the bale forming chamber |I and is adapted to drive the numerous baling mechanisms.

Drive from the engine is carried from pulley I9* to a large belt ily wheel 26 by means of a belt 2|!a and thereupon to a small spur gear 2| to a large gear 2 |a having a crank arm 22 driven thereby. As shown in Figure 2 a plunger 23 is slidably mounted in the bale forming chamber I I and has a connecting rod A24 joining it to the crank arm 22. Upon rotation ofthe large gear 2| the bale compressing plunger 23 is reciprocated in the longitudinally extending bale chamber I The larger gear 2| is mounted on a shaft 25 which enters a gear housing 26 on the inner side wall of the longitudinally extending bale chamber Rotational drive from .the shaft is transmitted through a drive shaft 21 to a universal joint (not shown) having a shield 28. A shaft 29 is driven through the universal joint and extends upwardly and rearwardly as shown in Figures l and 2 terminating in a universal joint 3U. A shaft 3| extends rearwardly from this joint 30 and imparts drive to a pair of packing iingers 32 in a gyratory movement. A disc 33 is mounted on and driven with the shaft 3I. Rotation of thedisc-33 causes operation of the engine surge provided for by the device of this invention. The engine I9 employs all of the regular essentials such as a speed governor 34 and a carburetor 35, having a throttle 35a.

The disc 33 as shown in Figures 4 and 5 cornprises adjacent plates 36 and 31. Bolts 38 are employed to hold the plates together. As shown in Figure 5 `the plates 36 and 31 are movable rotatably with respect to each other by reason of the slots 39. The plate 31 carries a large disc 40 which has an outwardly extending cam track or surface as shown at 4|. The cam track is circular in shape and covers substantially half the disc 40. The cam extends from a low point at 42 to a high point at `43. Upon rotation of the shaft 3| the disc 33 rotates and, by means of a cam follower 44, a roller 45 riding on the cam surface 4| causes the follower to move longitudinally with respect to the shaft 3I. As best shown in Figures 4 and 5 the cam follower roller 45 is journalled on arm A46 which is hinged at 41 to a further part of the engine I9 at 48. Rotation of the disc 33 therefor causes the follower 44 to swing outwardly about its hinge 41.

A link rod '49 is carried and held loosely in the arm 46 at 50. The cam 4| imparts longitudinal movement to the link rod 49. As best shown in Figure 6, the rod 49 is threaded at its other end as shown at 5| and has a sleeve stop 52 held thereon by means of a nut 53. The stop 52 has a reduced diameter extension 54 adapted to slide Within a slot 55 in the bracket member .56 as shown inFigure 7. An arm 51 is pivotally reason of the stop 52 abutting the bracket 56. The upper end of the bracket 56 as viewed in Figure 6 includes a flange 6U which lies parallel with a closely adjacent clevis or yoke 6| at the end of the throttle operating arm 62 of the carburetor 35 on the engine. A pin 63 passes through the clevis and the flange 6|) so that movement of the bracket 56 causes a corresponding movement of the throttle operating link 62. Movement of the link 49 by reason of the cam 4| causes the throttle 35a in the carburetor to be opened, thus admitting more fuel and increasing the speed of the engine I9.

The purpose of the slots 39 in the disc 31 is to place the cam 4I on that portion of the periphery of the disc 33 which will effect engine surging or acceleration at a time just prior to the end of the compression stroke of the plunger 23. As stated in the objects above, the greatest load on the engine occurs at that time when the plunger is performing its greatest work on the compressing of the hay or straw into a bale. Each revolution of the driven shaft 3| coincides with one complete revolution of the gear 2|a and thus also one complete revolution of the bale compressing plunger 23. It is obvious then that there is a deiinite timed relationship between the rotation of the disc 33 and the reciprocation of the plunger 23. Engine surging need not ccntinue to the full end of the compression stroke as inertia of the massive plunger assists in maintaining regular plunger operation after it has received a little boost. In view of this the cam is timed to speed up the engine for just a portion of the compression stroke whereupon inertia of the moving parts carries the operation to completion.

Engines employed on farm implements such as balers are equipped with governors which act to control the throttle opening of the engine carburetors. Control of engine operation is therefore made through changes in the governor rather than through changes to the throttle. As described above, the cam acceleration of the engine is caused by by-passing the governor 34 and acting to directly change the throttle opening. Governors as a rule operate on the principle of the throwing of weights centrifugally outwardly upon the attainment of some predetermined speed.- The weights in the governor are counterbalanced by a spring which tends to hold the weights against the centrifugal action caused by rotation. However, the spring is set to yield upon the attainment of this predetermined rate of speed. Change in governor operation can be effected only by changing the weights or the counterbalancing spring. AIn the present case the governor operating arm 64, the position of which is controlled directly by the position of the weights internally of the governor, is attached to the clevis 6I of the throttle operating link by means of the pin 63 and at the same point of attachment of the arm 60 of the bracket 56. When the governor arm 64 moves it acts to directly open or close the throttle.

A U-shaped bracket 65 is welded or otherwise attached to the governor operating arm 64 and is joined by a spring 66 to the one end 61 of a bellcrank lever -68 which is pivoted for rotational movement at 69 on a xed bracket 10. The bellcrank lever 68 has a second arm 1| extending at substantially right angles to the arm 61. The arm 1| joins an operating link 12 at 13. A speed regulating hand lever 14 is adapted to rotate a. frictional operating drum. 15 to cause shiftingof vrod 12.

Yatcas's the link 12 through an adjustable attachment shown at 1E. There is sufficient frictional resistance within the drum to cause the drum to remain in any adjusted position with respect to its fixed bracket support 'l1 upon movement of the control arm lll. As best shown in Fig. 8 the drum 'I5 has a bore 35 -through which passes a shaft 84. The shaft 85 is threaded at 85 at one end thereof. The other end of the shaft is welded at 86 to a plate member 87. A nut 88 engages ythe threads 85 of the shaft 84. By drawing the nut 85 up tightly against a lock washer 89, the drum 15 is held tightly against the stationary bracket T1. This constitutes the frictional engagement just described. The plate member 87 has a lug extension 9!) to receive passage of the Rotation of the drum 'i5 by the lever 14 thus causes rotational movement of the shaft 84 and thus also the plate member 8l. This moves the rod 'l2 upwardly or downwardly, as

desired, because of the odset of the lug 5D. Hence the link 12 may be placed in any position and held there without the operator constantly holding the hand lever 75. It is apparent that movement of the hand control lever 'ld will effect a direct change in the extension or contraction of the spring 65. If the spring is extended, it adds to the adjustabilityof the governors weights and similarly, if the spring 65 is .contracted the governor weights are relatively unaffected by the action of the spring 55. Therefore, when the spring 66 is extended the governor permits the engine to attain higher speeds and contrarily, when the spring 55 is contracted the speed of the engine is held down. Manual control of governor operation and thus engine speed is not aifected by the automatic engine surger of this invention.

As best shown in Figure 7, the pivot 5S is part of a trunnion 78 and forms an attachment between the arm 5l and the link 72. This trunnion is adjustable by means of a set screw 'I5 along the length of the connecting rod 12. Upon movement of the hand control lever 'M movement is imparted to the arm 5l as well as the link 'l2 and thus the entire cam operated link i9 swings about its loose connection with the hinged cam follower, and with the cylindrical portion 54 of the sleeve 52 riding upwardly in the slot 55 of the bracket 55.

In the position as shown in Figures 6 and 7 the speed of the engine is shown as being suicient to carry on normal bale operation. Engine idling is accomplished by moving` the hand lever 'I4 forwardly causing link 12 and the arm 51 to move the connecting link 49 to the irmer end of the slot 55 in the bracket 56. The apparatus is arranged and constructed so that the engine does not surge while idling. This is accomplished by the peculiar shape of the bracket 55. For convenience the bracket 56 will be designated as possessing a C-shape. When the cam effects longitudinal axial movement of the rod 4S the stop 52 shifts, but because of the C-shape of the bracket 56, the stop does not engage the bracket and thus has no effect whatever on the positioning of the engine throttle. When the engine is speeded up by movement of the hand control lever lll the stop 52 moves downwardly and is closely adjacent the lower extension BIJ of the bracket 55 so that shifting of the rod 4S by the cam lll will cause immediate shifting of the bracket 56 and thus a resetting of the throttle of the engine.

Movement of the bell-crank lever 68 is limited by means of'a stop member 8l contacting an adjustableabutment 82. As previously stated, the hand control lever may be operated through its full range of movement without being aected by the engine load anticipator, which has been superimposed on the controls of the carburetor throttle. Further, this mechanism is superposed onto the regular engine operating means in a manner to avoid engine acceleration during that time when the engine is idling.

Various details of construction may be varied throughout a wide range without departing from the principles disclosed herein and we therefore do not propose limiting the patent granted hereon otherwise than as necessitated by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A baling machine comprising an engine having adjustable speeds, actuator means to effect a 'change in engine speed, a bale forming chamber,

a plunger in said chamber having reciprocating motion imparted thereto by said engine, means for feeding material to be baled to said chamber at the time of plunger retraction, shaft means imparting drive from said plunger to said feeding means, and means for accelerating the engine upon the compression stroke of said plunger, said means for accelerating the engine comprising a cam mounted on and driven by said shaft means, and linkage means engaging said cam and connected to said actuator means to effect a change in engine speed.

2. A baling machine comprising an engine,` a bale forming chamber, a plunger reciprocated in said chamber by said engine, means for feeding material to be baled to said chamber at the time of plunger retraction, and means for accelerating the engine upon the compression stroke of said plunger, said means for accelerating the engine including mechanism arranged and constructed to be responsive to each reciprocative movement of the plunger, said engine having a throttle, a governor controlling the position of said throttle, a shaft rotatably driven by said engine at a speed corresponding to plunger reciprocation, a cam on said shaft, and linkage means interposed between the cam and said throttle whereby the throttle is controlled independently of said governor.

3. A baling machine comprising an engine, a bale forming chamber, a plunger reciprocated in said chamber by said engine, for compressing material in said chamber` during a stroke of the plunger in one direction, means for feeding material to be baled to said chamber at the time of plunger retraction, said engine having a throttle, an engine speed operated governor for controlling the position `of said throttle, a shaft driven one revolution by said engine for each compression stroke of the plunger, a cam on said shaft, and linkage means interposed between the cam and said throttle whereby the throttle is controlled independently of said governor, said cam being angularly positioned on the shaft and being so shaped to cooperate with said linkage means to open the throttle at such a point during the compression stroke of the plunger and for such portion of said stroke so as to produce additional power output of the engine and additional inertia to the moving parts to complete the compression stroke of the plunger, the shape of the cam means being such as to return the throttle to governor control adjacent the end of the compression stroke of the plunger.

4. A baling machine comprising an engine, a

accacsc bale forming chamber, a plunger reciprocated in said chamber by said engine,`for compressing material in said chamber during a stroke of the plunger in one direction, means for feeding material to be baled to said chamber at the time of plunger retraction, said engine having a throttle, an engine speed operated adjustable governor for controlling the position of said throttle, a shaft driven one revolution by said engine for each compression stroke of the plunger, a cam on said shaft, linkage means interposed between the cam and said throttle whereby the throttle is controlled independently of said governor, said cam being angularly positioned on the shaft and being so shaped to cooperate with said linkage means to open the throttle at such a point during the compression stroke of the plunger and for such portion of said stroke so as to produce additional power output of the engine and additional inertia to the moving parts to complete the compression stroke of the plunger, the shape of the cam means being such as to return vthe throttle to governor control adjacent the end of the compression stroke of the plunger, an inclined slotted bracket associated with said throttle, said linkage means having an operating rod passing through said slotted bracket and movable longitudinally by said cam, a hand lever for changing governor' adjustment, a link joining said hand lever and said operating rod, whereby movement of said hand lever moves the operating rod in the slot of said bracket, and a lug on said operating rod larger in width than said slot, said lug adapted to engage and move said bracket when the hand lever is at an initially high governor adjustment and to be inactive to move said bracket because of its adjacent inclination at an initially low governor adjustment.

5. A baling machine comprising an engine, a bale forming chamber, a plunger reciprocated in said chamber by said engine, for compressing material in said chamber during a stroke of the plunger in one direction, means for feeding material to be baled to said chamber at the time of plunger retraction, said engine having a throttle, an engine speed operated governor for controlling the position of said throttle, means operating in timed relation with the plunger and completing a cycle of operation for each compression stroke of said plunger, and linkage means interposed between said means and said throttle whereby `the throttle is controlled independently of said governor, said means cooperating with said linkage means to open the throttle during a predetermined limited portion of said compression stroke to produce additional power output of the engine and additional inertia to the plunger to complete the compression stroke thereof.

6. A baling machine comprising an engine, a bale forming chamber, a'plunger reciprocated in said chamber by said engine, for compressing material in said chamber during a stroke of the plunger in one direction, means for feeding material to be baled to said chamber at the time of plunger retraction, and means for accelerating the engine during a predetermined portion of the compression stroke of said plunger, said means for accelerating the engine including mechanism arranged and constructed to be responsive to each reciprocative movement of the plunger, said engine having a throttle, an engine speed operated governor for controlling the position of said throttle, a shaft rotatably driven by said engine at a speed corresponding to plunger reciprocation, a cam on said shaft, linkage means interposed between said means and said throttle whereby the throttle is controlled independently of said governor, an inclined slotted bracket associated with said throttle, said linkage means having an operating rod passing through said slotted bracket and movable longitudinally by said cam, a hand lever for changing governor setting, a link joining said hand lever and said operating rod, whereby movement of said hand lever moves the operating rod in the slot of said bracket, and a lug on said operating rod larger in width than said slot, said lug adapted to engage and move said bracket when the hand lever is at an initially high governor setting and to be inactive to move said bracket because of its adjacent inclination at an initially low governor setting.

SAMUEL J. STEVENSON. THEODORE H. KLUSMAN. HERMAN S. FISHER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,153,199 Dain Sept. 14,1915 1,205,163 Dain Nov. 21, 1916 1,205,949 Thomas Nov. 21, 1916 1,344,362 Turnbull June 22, 1920 2,001,590 Spiller May 14, 1935 2,217,364 Halford et al Oct. 8, l'1940 2,302,322 Howard Nov. 17, 1942 2,450,082 Crumb et al. Sept. 28, 1948 

